China's industrial profits up 11.6 pct in Q1

Profits of China's major industrial firms grew at a slower pace of 11.6 percent in the first quarter of 2018, data showed Friday.

The growth compared with a 16.1-percent increase registered for January-February.

In March alone, combined profits at industrial companies each with annual revenue of more than 20 million yuan (about 3.2 million U.S. dollars) amounted to 589.8 billion yuan, up 3.1 percent from one year earlier, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.